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Friday, May 25, 2012

Box Office Report: 'Men in Black 3' Eyeing Memorial Day Opening of $75 Mil-$80 Mil


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Analyst on Dish Ad-Skipper: 'Serious Disruptions' for TV Business


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Do Some Serious Relaxing This Weekend

May 25th, 2012Top Story

Do Some Serious Relaxing This Weekend

By Whitson Gordon

Do Some Serious Relaxing This WeekendYou've had a long week at work and three full days to relax your stress away. Here are some ways to get the most out of your relaxation this weekend.

Consider Going Off the Grid

Do Some Serious Relaxing This WeekendWhether you can't pull yourself away from work or you're just starting to feel phantom vibrations from your phone, it may be time to take a little break from technology. As much as it can make our lives easier, it can also cause a lot of stress, so if you really want to get the most of your relaxation this weekend, consider putting the phone away for awhile—or at least turning off your notifications.

On the flipside, there are a lot of cool ways that technology can help you relax, and we'll be mentioning some of them in this post. It's up to you whether you want to go off the grid or not—everyone's different, and if technology isn't the root of your stress, you might be fine keeping it on and making use of some of these tools.

Get the Best Sleep of Your Life

Do Some Serious Relaxing This WeekendNapping is, of course, one of our favorite ways to relax. We've shown you how to make the most of your naps, master the power nap, or even reboot your brain with a caffeine nap. Looking for the perfect time to squeeze in a few Zs? Calculate the best time with this interactive map wheel.

If you're having trouble sleeping, this is a great weekend to reboot your sleep cycle and start getting the rest you deserve. You can do this on your own, but we've also found certain tech gadgets to be pretty useful, not to mention a few smartphone apps, too.

Exercise Your Way to Tranquility

Do Some Serious Relaxing This WeekendExercise is obviously a great way to relieve stress, but if you're looking to do something a bit more physical without an intense workout, we've got solutions for that too. Try relaxing with our guide to meditation for the rest of us, or finding a good yoga style that fits your needs. Throw some tech into the mix with apps like Breathing Zone and Buddhify if you feel like you need a bit of extra help, but again, they're far from necessary to get the full benefits of these exercises.

Take On a Relaxing Weekend Project

Do Some Serious Relaxing This WeekendOf course, some of us just can't stand doing nothing—we want to do the stuff we love! We've got all the guides you could possibly need for kicking back with a few video games or some light reading, but if you want to get a bit more involved you can learn a new skill, finally ditch cable TV, or even hack your gadgets and void some warranties. Take a look back at our Weekendhacker archives for any weekend-long projects you may have missed, and take this long weekend to do a little catch up. Just make sure you're ready to hit the ground running when you get back to work! Photo by Chris Isherwood.

Got any other great relaxation techniques you're going to put into practice this weekend? Share them with us in the comments.

Title photo remixed from Michael Condouris.

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Report: How Scammers Are Stealing Xbox Live Accounts, and the Few Things You Can Do to Protect Yourself

May 25th, 2012Top Story

Report: How Scammers Are Stealing Xbox Live Accounts, and the Few Things You Can Do to Protect Yourself

By Luke Plunkett

Report: How Scammers Are Stealing Xbox Live Accounts, and the Few Things You Can Do to Protect YourselfFor months now, Xbox 360 owners have been complaining of a surge in account thefts, incidents when people wake up one day to find themselves no longer with access (or even possession) of their own Xbox Live accounts anymore.

At first believed to be the result of hacks in relation to EA's FIFA series, it's now looking more likely to be the result of a widespread scam run by shady types out to either make money or score cheap games.

One of the more high profile victims of these "jackings" (not "hacks," we'll get to that in a minute) was Susan Taylor, who wrote an account of her experiences, and which we covered back in January. Having stood up and identified herself as an unhappy victim, Susan soon got something she was probably never expecting: members of the jacking community reaching out to her.

Three such types contacted Susan and tipped her off to sites and forums where jackers congregate and trade. They were also, as members, able to access the sites (most are obviously restricted from public viewing) and pass along some of the information contained within, including techniques on how to obtain someone else's Xbox Live account information.

You can see one such site, which is publicly accessible, here. On its "black market" forum, you'll see members both selling stolen Xbox Live accounts and making requests, one person looking for an account with good Modern Warfare 3 stats, another selling an account with the presumably desirable name of "One V One".

The key distinction between "jacking" and "hacking" is that these guys aren't forcefully circumventing any software protection measures. What they're doing is, in a nutshell, contacting Microsoft, pretending to be the legitimate account holder, and through poor security and a whole lot of bluffing (usually making excuses as to why information was incorrect or why passwords could not be remembered), getting hold of the necessary reference numbers and information they need to then go on and access a stranger's Xbox Live account.

Here's an excerpt Susan was able to obtain, outlining one such strategy:

PERSON A

1. First you go to Xbox.com and click support at the top left of the website.

2. Then go to the bottom of the page and click Contact Us.

3. Once on that page click the Email Us link. Then click Xbox Live.

4. Now this is where it gets SERIOUS. For the name put a name. I personally use an actual agent's name ([Name redacted by Kotaku]) then put there employee ID which I put a fake ID. For the reason put Technical Support.

Then for the email put XXXX@microsoft.com or something to do with the agent's name but Microsoft. For the reason put something like this "Customer (put there name if you have it on the account you want) verified the 16 Credit Card digit number. He has made an inquiry about how he has forgotten his accounts information, since I am a Tier 1 agent I am unable to view the customers GT. He has requested to have the answer changed to (put some realistic for the answer). The Xbox Live Gamertag is (put GT). – [Name redacted by Kotaku]"

(IMAGE)

5. Now you should see something like this

(IMAGE)

6. Call up Xbox 30 minutes later. After they answer say that you were disconnected from a Tier 2 agent and ask to be transferred back.

7. After they transfer you to the Tier 2 agent give them the number (remember your the customer so you have to act like you have pretty much no idea what's on it). Once they pull it up they will take a little while and change it. DO NOT ASK FOR THE EMAIL so that you can know where to reset it.

8. Then call back and say you forgot your email but know your Secret question answer. They will ask for the GT and answer tell them and they will give you the email.

Congrats now you get the OG. This wont work every time so don't get discouraged.

Report: How Scammers Are Stealing Xbox Live Accounts, and the Few Things You Can Do to Protect Yourself

That sounds depressingly simple. Here's another one.

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PHISHING clearly as you know all too well but MS tries to hide this very well. This is called by the hackers ad "Jacking an account" and what i talk about below is probably not even entered your head as how your account was taken.

The main thing is that reference number you get, see how they helped you with just a reference number and no other proof you were who you said???

Basically they ring other small companies associated with MS after getting a reference number associated with your gamertag/zune account.

To get the reference number they ring either xbox or zune support and when asked about security info such as name they give fake info and then say "Oh if thats not right my brother must have changed it, hes not in so can i have a reference number to call you back when he is home?"

These smaller companies release your name and more and literally all i or the hacker would have to say after giving them the reference number is "Could you help me verify the information on my account please". Being a smaller, clueless company they give info out like your name or address. They then call back repeatedly getting different info (this is a lengthy process as not every agent is stupid but these people spend days/weeks targetting accounts)

Bear if mind they will get your email address from this process and that pretty much seals the accounts fate into being hacked. Most people use the same email and their real/same info for everything so if they see on xbox.com you have netflix or something similar like that they will call netflix and they have all the right name and address ect.

So one example of something i would do and what these people do is to say to netflix "I purchased a new subscription but its not showing up can you check you have the right payment option on file" because the hacker can give all the correct info to netflix or whoever elses service it is and they will cluelessly give out the last 4 digits of the Credit Card. Now with the last 4 digits of a credit card a password reset form is almost certain to be successful when the hackers submits one through the windows live page when you click forgot password. But there are also hotlines were agents will reset the password over the phone when the hacker provides all this info because they are bound to believe someone with the last four of a CC right? so they help the hacker get your account.

There are literally TONS of different little tactics here and there that these people or I used to use to get different bits of infomation and i only skim over it briefly above obviously because it would be too lengthy to try and explain it with written words in one email.

As you can see, if this stuff is indeed the kind of methodology used by jackers, it's a far more serious problem than a flaw in Xbox Live's code or immediate security. That sort of thing can be patched, the holes plugged. What Susan's sources are describing though, that's something else. That's a failure of bureaucracy. Something broken at a systemic and fundamental level of Microsoft's customer service system, a result of under-trained and outsourced staff not knowing the finer details of the service's security framework. Which is a lot harder, and slower to fix.

It would also explain why it's been so hard for Microsoft to track down the problem. It's been looking for a problem, something obvious, a chink in Xbox Live's armour. What's being described here, acts of deception carried out on a personal level with customer service staff, wouldn't even come up on their radar.

Report: How Scammers Are Stealing Xbox Live Accounts, and the Few Things You Can Do to Protect Yourself

BUT WHY?

The raft of thefts reveal that Xbox Live accounts are big business. Definitely worth the trouble of getting hold of. But why? It appears there's a market for all kinds of accounts and the things related to them. The most obvious, and lucrative for the more criminally-minded, are accounts with credit card or PayPal info linked to them. Once loaded up with "free" Microsoft Points, they're then sold off to buyers who get thousands of points for a lot less than they'd normally have paid for them.

Another money-saving motivation is free games. If an account has purchased any Games on Demand titles, for example, those games are linked to the account, meaning the new owner can jump onto Xbox Live and download the games "again" for free. Surprise surprise, the most valuable accounts are ones with Call of Duty titles attached.

Report: How Scammers Are Stealing Xbox Live Accounts, and the Few Things You Can Do to Protect Yourself

Two other reasons, though, are a little more vain. Some black market buyers want access to "OG" usernames. They don't want, for example, "b08". They want "Bob", or names related to pop culture figures, or movie stars, or dumb shit like "Killer". The more interesting OG handles are thus targets for jackers, and can be sold for hundreds of dollars.

The other cosmetic lure is a user's tenure. In the corner of your Xbox Live avatar there's a number. The higher the number, the longer you've been a member. Long-time members—we're talking 5-6+ years—are of course the most valuable, and are a target for jackers who can sell them to people who want to look more seasoned on Xbox Live than they actually are.

PREVENTION

If these reports are accurate, then what can you do to protect your account? It would appear you can't do anything at all. Unlike a phishing scam, which you can head off by changing passwords, these jackers are bypassing the user entirely and going straight to Microsoft support. If they see a gamertag they think can make them money, then they'll pull their support scam, and if they can pull it off (as stated above, often they're unsuccessful) there's not a thing you'd be able to do about it.

About the only recommendations would be to do what you should be doing anyway: keep your passwords separate, don't link credit card information to an account and use a dedicated email account for just your Xbox Live, nothing else. At least then you're minimising the damage, cutting down on the possibilities that by stealing your account details these scammers also get access to other online services of yours.

Bear in mind that while these reports may seem convincing, given their origin and the fact nobody but Microsoft knows the full extent of how its own support network operates, the means of account "jacking" should be treated as rumour until we're able to confirm them. As such, we've contacted Microsoft, and will update if we hear back.

How (And Why) Your Xbox Live Accounts Are Hacked [HackedonXbox]

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Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

May 25th, 2012Top Story

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

By Hamilton Nolan

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869A few weeks ago, I sent letters to every American death row inmate scheduled for execution this year. I asked them about their own survival prospects, their day-to-day lives, and their thoughts on America, its media, and its justice system. Today, a death row inmate replies.

Brett Hartmann is scheduled to be executed in Ohio on November 13. He's been on death row since 1998, when he was convicted of murdering Winda Snipes, his lover, by stabbing her 138 times and cutting off her hands. Hartmann says he is innocent. His version of the case can be found here; a good Cleveland Scene article on the issues surrounding his case can be found here.

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

May 20, 2012

Dear Hamilton-

Thank you for your recent letter, it is always great to get mail and I am always happy to help legitimate causes when I can. You should see some of the other letters I got this time around!
As for my thought on possible execution, min probably vary from the others as this is my 3rd time down the isle! The first time I came within 7 days, last time I think within 2 weeks. so for me, of course I do not want to die but I am tired and feel they should give me the new trial I deserve or just kill me! I am not interested in anything in between.
My chances this time? I would not tempt to guess, when it comes to these courts they always seem to do the opposite of what you think. I would like to think I have about a 40% chance of surviving this one, but, I know people do not like to admit it but the DR is 90% politics and the time leading up to my date is prime election season so that drops it down to about 10% and the rest depends on the political climate more so than any issues I have. If the courts did what they were supposed- I would never have been convicted in the first place- gotten a new trial years ago and/ or should get a new trial now! But politics is already weighing heavily on my case as I will (over)

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

likely end up before the US Sup. Ct. When it comes to inmates rights to DNA testing there was first Osborne, then Skinner, [ed.: see here] I am the first to complete the requirements set forth in both those cases and still be denied DNA testing by the state. But if the US Sup Ct. takes it it will be just days before or day of my execution.
Ok if you want to know much about me please feel free to visit my website, tell my sister it is ok for her to talk to you- www.enddeathpenaltyforbretthartmann.com.
As for my daily routine- extremely boring! I say that knowing Ohio DR has it better than any other DR in the country/ world. I have the option to be out of my cell all day and socialize with the other 25 guys on any range(?), to go to an indoor gym 3 times a week or to an outside rec yard with grass and such, but something broke in me after surviving my last date and I have not cared to go to a gym or go outside for going on a year now. Mostly I get up about 8:30- 9 AM, wash up, clean my cell and such and then write letters till about 2 pm, then I go to the day room and play Scrabble till 5-7 pm when I lock back up and work on what ever art project I am currently doing while I watch my prime time shows till about 11 pm when I go to bed and do it all over again the next day.

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

Some guys work out, play card and such, I do arts and crafts to pass my time, my family is not rich- border on poor so they can not help me much so I just try to do what ever I can to earn a paycheck and support myself, so I will try making anything I think will sell eventually.
I try to keep my routine the same no matter how close I get, it is the comfort of routine that helps me keep my sanity through it all. My routine only changes as I get closer based the security restriction, at 30 days out I will separated mostly from the general population and 3 days out I will be isolated entirely and monitored 24/7, so that stuff throws a crimp into some routines but I will try to keep it the same as long as I can.
As for how the media covers the DR- two words come to mind, biased and ignorance, they have no clue what they are talking about, everyone bases their images from what they see on tv which historically is not accurate on much! Media acts like we get all these appeals- and there is some fair review process- it is all smoke and mirrors! All our state appeals are a joke, state judges are elected- therefore 95% politicians/ 5% Judge, so none of them will touch a DR case with a 10 ft pole, unless it is nearly 100% guaranteed the person will be reconvicted! I think in the Ohio Supreme Courts (over)

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

history they have only heard 1 post-conviction appeal- they have denied jurisdiction on every other one, yet every state court appeal is counted as some grande appellate system.
I always say look at all the innocent people save by, and solely by, Barry Scheck, Northwestern University Journalist students and such, if it had been left up to just the attorneys and courts every one of those proven innocent men would have been executed! It is proven Texas has executed 2 innocent men- every state is as crooked and bad as Illinois was/ is, it is just a matter of proving it- And yet no one cares, that is why my two words were biased and ignorance, all the evidence is there, the media and most people choose not to see.
The DR in the US is just a shining example of the self righteous arrogance most of the world can not stand about us, every intelligent and civilized country has done away with the DP, the only other countries are what, China, Turkey and such. It sad when there is not one single justification for the DP, it is cheaper to house an inmate for life, it does not deter crime, almost every victims family who thought it would bring some kind of closure admit it did not, some people reach for the bible claiming "an eye for an eye"- I find it funny how they skip over the other parts of the old testament that say all drunkards, adulterers, unruly kids should be put to death! So

Letters From Death Row: Brett Hartmann, Ohio Inmate 357-869

there is not one single justification for the DP that hold water, so why do people cling to it so desperately?
I'll get off that soapbox, as you can imagine these are personal issues that I can go on and on about! :)
As for what the public should know- no one will believe me because they are so stuck on us being vicious monsters. But once a person is removed from the drugs, alcohol, women and what ever else drove them insane they revert back to the good people their parents raised them to be, the people here are just good people that did something bad. I have met better people in here then I ever did out there! We are a close knit family and we look out for each other.
Even the director of Ohio Prisons recently said, per capita we are the least troublesome and least violent group of inmates in the prison system- we might have 3-4 fights a year which is just a given when you have so many men stuck around each other 24/ 7. A lot of that is due to Ohio treating us like humans, so we act like humans!
Anyway, I will close, I am sure I have already bored you with my yammering. I hope a little bit of this might help- if you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

Brett

You can find more information about Brett, or purchase his art, on his website. Put any questions you have for him in the comments, and we will include some in our future correspondence with him.

[Image by Jim Cooke]

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